Global Legal Ops Leader — AI & Tech Enablement

Valmont Group; Omaha (NE); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Valmont is seeking a Senior Manager, Legal Operations to build and run the global legal function, owning spend, outside counsel, technology, data, and AI initiatives. This builder role focuses on implementing e-billing, CLM integration with ERP, and delivering department metrics dashboards while aligning with the CLO and legal leadership.

The role partners with Finance, IT, HR, and risk teams, and reports to the CLO.

Responsibilities

• Own the legal department budget, including annual planning, monthly forecasting, accruals and variance reporting with Finance.
• Lead outside counsel management: panel design, engagement letters, billing guidelines, rate negotiations and alternative fee arrangements.
• Run invoice review and approval workflows end to end, from receipt through payment, in partnership with Accounts Payable.
• Track outside counsel performance and run periodic law firm reviews.
• Manage legal vendor relationships and contracts, including ALSPs and other legal service providers.
• Identify and deliver cost savings while protecting quality of legal support.
• Lead implementation, administration and adoption of the legal e-billing and spend management platform.
• Define the legal technology roadmap, including contract lifecycle management, matter management, intake and triage, and entity management.
• Ensure legal systems integrate with IFS and other enterprise systems, and meet IT security and data privacy requirements.
• Build legal department metrics and dashboards covering spend, matter volume, cycle times and service levels.
• Deliver regular reporting to the CLO and periodic reporting for senior leadership and the Board.
• Lead Legal's AI strategy and roadmap, aligned with Valmont's enterprise AI policy and IT governance.
• Identify high-value use cases, such as contract review and drafting, intake triage, legal research, invoice review, knowledge search, and board and governance document preparation.
• Run AI vendor evaluations and pilots, measure results (time saved, cycle time, quality, cost), and scale what works.
• Partner with IT, cybersecurity and privacy on technical due diligence and data security for AI tools, and implement the confidentiality and privilege safeguards set by Legal's attorneys.
• Operationalize the AI guardrails and outside counsel AI billing guidelines approved by the CLO, including training, workflow controls, invoice review and compliance reporting.
• Train lawyers and staff on AI tools, effective use and limitations, and build AI fluency across the department.
• Track legal-industry AI practice and tools, and bring emerging opportunities and risks to the CLO.
• Map current-state legal processes and design scalable, standardized workflows.
• Lead knowledge management, including templates, playbooks, clause libraries and the legal intranet.
• Partner with IT and Privacy on records retention and information governance for Legal.
• Coordinate department planning, goals, onboarding, training and team communications.
• Lead change management so new tools and processes are adopted across Legal and its business partners.
• Develop Legal's annual operating plan, anchored in a baseline maturity assessment and a prioritized roadmap.

Job description

Valmont is seeking a Senior Manager, Legal Operations to build and run the global legal function, owning spend, outside counsel, technology, data, and AI initiatives. This builder role focuses on implementing e-billing, CLM integration with ERP, and delivering department metrics dashboards while aligning with the CLO and legal leadership.

The role partners with Finance, IT, HR, and risk teams, and reports to the CLO.